While increasing extreme daytime heat is one of the clearest signs of a warming climate, low temperatures have also been increasing. In many cases, nighttime low temperatures are increasing more rapidly than daytime high temperatures. Take the first half of 2017, the second hottest start to the year on record for the U.S. From January-June, the

June 1 marked the first day of meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere, time for beach trips, barbecues and sweating through summer’s heat. This hottest of all the seasons is getting even hotter as the planet warms from the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Meteorological summer differs from astronomical summer, which is

Thanks in part to the epic heat wave that sent temperatures skyrocketing in the Southwest, last month was the hottest June on record for the contiguous U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday. June was 3.3°F above the 20th century average of 68.5°F, beating the previous record set in 1933 by 0.2°F, according to

As summers get hotter from the increase in greenhouse gases, they are also getting stickier. More evaporation occurs in a warming atmosphere, and on a world where water covers nearly three-quarters of the surface, it means an increase in water vapor in the air. During hot summer days, additional moisture in the air stresses the body by making it

Weather fanatics caught in the minutia of day to day forecasting would be thrilled with the subtle forecasting challenges along the Gulf Coast recently. Most of the ground truth is actually playing out via small shifts 19,000–35,000 feet over our heads. Of course, the jet stream is ALWAYS important to the forecast. But particularly during southern

Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial start to summer — is here, which means it’s time for beaches, pools and barbecues as the heat of the season sets in. Although most of the country has been warming up as normal this spring, temperatures in the Middle Atlantic and the Northeast have been on the cool side for much of May. But this week, there’s

Columbia, S.C., promotes itself as being “Famously Hot.” The slogan is meant to draw attention to the city’s facilities, attractions, and community, but it might also describe its weather and climate, which is definitely getting famously hotter. Meteorological summer has ended for 2015 and there are signs of a new normal. It is well documented

Those long, hot, sultry days of summer, the ones where the air seem so still it wouldn’t disturb a leaf, are also days where air quality can take a nosedive. With winds barely above a whisper and atmosphere-scouring rains nowhere in sight, pollutants can build up in the air we breathe, with potentially serious health consequences. Since climate

Global warming often conjures scenes of sweaty, scorching summer days, but daytime temperatures aren’t the only thing expected to rise in a warming world. Nights, too, are expected to get sultrier, with overnight lows not dropping as much as they used to. That trend in increasing nighttime low temperatures is expected to continue for the entire

Scorching temperatures above 110°F are more often associated with the stark landscapes of places like Death Valley than the cooler reaches of the Pacific Northwest. But a suped-up heat wave has left parts of Washington feeling much more like the desert Southwest and has shattered longstanding high temperature records in many spots. The searing heat

It’s officially summer! We have now passed the points that mark the traditional start to summer (Memorial Day), the meteorological start (June 1), and now the astronomical start, or summer solstice (June 21) — so break out those flip-flops and beach towels! Though June, July, and August usually bring the heat, for parts of the country spring felt

Before the summer of 2010, Moscow had never recorded a triple-digit temperature, with records going back to 1879. But during a weeks-long heat wave that June and July, the city’s temperatures soared well above normal, setting an all-time record high of 102°F on July 30. A new study suggests that Arctic warming could have helped trigger that epic